Runic (Unicode block)

Unicode character block From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Runic is a Unicode block containing runic characters. It was introduced in Unicode 3.0 (1999), with eight additional characters introduced in Unicode 7.0 (2014).[3] The original encoding of runes in UCS was based on the recommendations of the "ISO Runes Project" submitted in 1997.[a]

Quick Facts Range, Plane ...
Runic
RangeU+16A0..U+16FF
(96 code points)
PlaneBMP
ScriptsRunic (86 char.)
Common (3 char.)
Major alphabetsFuthark
Assigned89 code points
Unused7 reserved code points
Unicode version history
3.0 (1999)81 (+81)
7.0 (2014)89 (+8)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1][2]
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The block is intended for the representation of text written in Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon runes, Younger Futhark (both in the long-branch and short-twig variants), Scandinavian medieval runes and early modern runic calendars; the additions introduced in version 7.0 in addition allow support of the mode of writing Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes used by J. R. R. Tolkien, and the special vowel signs used in the Franks Casket inscription.[b]

Background

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The distinction made by Unicode between character and glyph variant is somewhat problematic in the case of the runes; the reason is the high degree of variation of letter shapes in historical inscriptions, with many "characters" appearing in highly variant shapes, and many specific shapes taking the role of a number of different characters over the period of runic use (roughly the 3rd to 14th centuries AD). The division between Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon runes are well-established and useful categories, but they are connected by a continuum of gradual development, inscriptions using a mixture of older and newer forms of runes, etc. For this reason, the runic Unicode block is of very limited usefulness in representing of historical inscriptions and is better suited for contemporary runic writing than for palaeographic purposes.

The original publication of the Unicode standard is explicitly aware of these problems, and of the compromises necessary regarding the "character / glyph" dichotomy. The charts published show only "idealized reference glyphs", and explicitly delegates the task of creating useful implementations of the standard to font designers, ideally necessitating a separate font for each historical period.[c] Glyph shape was taken into consideration explicitly for "unification" of an older rune with one of its descendant characters.[d] On the other hand, the Younger Futhark era script variants of long-branch, and short-twig, in principle a historical instance of "glyph variants", have been encoded separately, while the further variant form of staveless runes has not.[e]

The ISO Runes Project treated the runes as essentially glyph variants of the Latin script. Everson argued that the native futhark ordering is well established, and that it is unusual for UCS to order letters not in Latin alphabetical order rather than according to native tradition, and a corresponding sorting order of the runic letter Unicode characters was adopted for ISO/IEC 14651 in 2001.[f]

Characters

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The original 81 characters adopted for Unicode 3.0 included 75 letters, three punctuation marks and three "runic symbols".

The names given to the runic letter characters are "a bit clumsy" in a deliberate compromise between scholarly and amateur requirements. They list simplified (ASCII) representations of the three names of a "unified" rune in the Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Saxon and the Younger Futhark traditions, followed by the letter transliterating the rune (if applicable).[g] The ordering follows the basic futhark sequence, but with (non-unified) variants inserted after the standard Elder Futhark form of each letter, as follows:

More information Code point, Rune ...
Code pointRuneNameElder FutharkAnglo-SaxonYounger Futhark
(long-branch)
Younger Futhark
(short-twig)
MedievalDalecarlian
16A0FEHU FEOH FE FcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A1VcheckY
16A2URUZ UR UcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A3YRcheckY
16A4YcheckY
16A5WcheckY[h]
16A6THURISAZ THURS THORNcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16A7ETHcheckY
16A8ANSUZ AcheckYcheckY[i]
16A9OS OcheckY
16AAAC AcheckY
16ABAESCcheckY
16ACLONG-BRANCH-OSS OcheckY
16ADSHORT-TWIG-OSS OcheckY
16AEOcheckY
16AFOEcheckYcheckY
16B0ONcheckY[j]
16B1RAIDO RAD REID RcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16B2KAUNAcheckY
16B3CENcheckY
16B4KAUN KcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16B5GcheckY
16B6ENGcheckY[k]
16B7GEBO GYFU GcheckYcheckYcheckY[l]
16B8GARcheckY
16B9WUNJO WYNN WcheckYcheckYcheckY
16BAHAGLAZ HcheckY
16BBHAEGL HcheckY
16BCLONG-BRANCH-HAGALL HcheckYcheckY
16BDSHORT-TWIG-HAGALL HcheckY
16BENAUDIZ NYD NAUD NcheckYcheckYcheckY
16BFSHORT-TWIG-NAUD NcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C0DOTTED-NcheckY[m]
16C1ISAZ IS ISS IcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C2EcheckY
16C3JERAN JcheckY
16C4GERcheckY
16C5LONG-BRANCH-AR AEcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C6SHORT-TWIG-AR AcheckYcheckYcheckY
16C7IWAZ EOHcheckYcheckY
16C8PERTHO PEORTH PcheckYcheckY
16C9ALGIZ EOLHXcheckYcheckY
16CASOWILO ScheckY
16CBSIGEL LONG-BRANCH-SOL ScheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16CCSHORT-TWIG-SOL ScheckYcheckYcheckY
16CDCcheckY
16CEZcheckY
16CFTIWAZ TIR TYR TcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D0SHORT-TWIG-TYR TcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D1DcheckY
16D2BERKANAN BEORC BJARKAN BcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16D3SHORT-TWIG-BJARKAN BcheckY
16D4DOTTED-PcheckY
16D5OPEN-PcheckY
16D6EHWAZ EH EcheckYcheckY
16D7MANNAZ MAN McheckYcheckY
16D8LONG-BRANCH-MADR McheckYcheckYcheckY
16D9SHORT-TWIG-MADR McheckYcheckY
16DALAUKAZ LAGU LOGR LcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckYcheckY
16DBDOTTED-LcheckY[n]
16DCINGWAZcheckY
16DDINGcheckY
16DEDAGAZ DAEG DcheckYcheckY
16DFOTHALAN ETHEL OcheckYcheckY
16E0EARcheckYcheckY
16E1IORcheckY
16E2CWEORTHcheckY
16E3CALCcheckY
16E4CEALCcheckY
16E5STANcheckY
16E6LONG-BRANCH-YRcheckYcheckYcheckY
16E7SHORT-TWIG-YRcheckY
16E8ICELANDIC-YRcheckY
16E9QcheckYcheckY
16EAXcheckY
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The three "punctuation marks" are three variant forms of separators found in runic inscriptions, one a single dot, one a double dot and one cross-shaped.

More information Code point, Rune ...
Code pointRuneName
16EBRUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION
16ECRUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION
16EDRUNIC CROSS PUNCTUATION
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The three "runic symbols" are the Arlaug, Tvimadur and Belgthor symbols used exclusively for enumerating years in runic calendars of the early modern period.

More information Code point, Rune ...
Code pointRuneName
16EERUNIC ARLAUG SYMBOL
16EFRUNIC TVIMADUR SYMBOL
16F0RUNIC BELGTHOR SYMBOL
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The eight additional characters introduced in Unicode 7.0 concern the Anglo-Saxon runes. Three are variant letters used by J. R. R. Tolkien to write Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes, representing the English k, oo and sh graphemes.[o]

More information Code point, Rune ...
Code pointRuneName
16F1RUNIC LETTER K
16F2RUNIC LETTER SH
16F3RUNIC LETTER OO
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The five others are letter variants used in one of the Franks Casket inscriptions, "cryptogrammic" replacements for the standard Anglo-Saxon o, i, e, a and æ vowel runes.

More information Code point, Rune ...
Code pointRuneName
16F4RUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET OS
16F5RUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET IS
16F6RUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET EH
16F7RUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET AC
16F8RUNIC LETTER FRANKS CASKET AESC
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Fonts

Numerous Unicode fonts support the Runic block, although most of them are strictly limited to displaying a single glyph per character, often closely modeled on the shape shown in the Unicode block chart.

Free Unicode fonts that support the runic block include: Junicode, GNU FreeFont (in its monospace, bitmap face), Caslon,[citation needed] the serif font Quivira, and Babelstone Runic in its many different formats. Commercial fonts supporting the block include Alphabetum, Code2000, Everson Mono, Aboriginal Serif, Aboriginal Sans, Segoe UI Symbol, and TITUS Cyberbit Basic.

Microsoft Windows did not support the Runic block in any of its included fonts during 2000—2008, but with the release of Windows 7 in 2009, the system has been delivered with a font supporting the block, Segoe UI Symbol. In Windows 10 the Runic block was moved into the font Segoe UI Historic.[13]

Chart

Runic[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+16Ax
U+16Bx
U+16Cx
U+16Dx
U+16Ex
U+16Fx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

History

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The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Runic block:

More information Version, Final code points ...
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Footnotes

    References

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